India’s Lohia Group has entered the aerospace and defense sector by acquiring Israeli composite company Light & Strong Ltd. No financial details were disclosed.

Based in the Kannot Industrial Park near Gedera, south of Tel Aviv, Light & Strong specializes in aerospace and military carbon fiber and glass fiber composite components production. Lohia Group said that the Israeli firm’s military technology manufacturing capabilities will provide a synergistic fit for its expertise in large scale manufacturing across sectors.

Lohia Group added that it would leverage Light & Strong’s client base, which includes Israel’s Ministry of Defense. The Israeli facility is a well-established aero-structure manufacturer for platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and passenger and cargo aircraft. These customers will now be supported by Lohia Group with its facilities in Israel and India.

As part of the Indian government’s ‘Skill India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives Lohia Group says it will use this acquisition to establish India as an exporter of customized composite products to global OEMs.

Lohia Group director Anurag Lohia said, “Our acquisition of Light & Strong allows us to integrate our manufacturing expertise with cutting edge technology to help make India the exporter of choice for global OEMs. With our belief in ‘Make in India’, we are committed to supporting our indigenous aerospace and defense sector for its requirements of all things composite.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 13, 2019

Israeli online marketplace for freelancers Fiverr has hired investment banks Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to manage a Wall Street IPO, “Bloomberg” reports, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Bloomberg” reports that Tel Aviv-based Fiverr is likely to conduct the offering in the second half of 2019, at a company valuation of $800 million. “Bloomberg” added, “No final decisions have been made, and both the timing and the valuation may be amended, the people said.”

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The report comes a day after Fiverr announced that it is acquiring US company subscription-based content marketing platform ClearVoice. The acquisition will enable businesses using Fiverr’s platform to more easily and conveniently create content. No financial details about the acquisition were disclosed.

Founded in 2010, Fiverr has raised $111 million from Bessemer Venture Partners, Qumra Capital and other investors. The company, which has offices in Tel Aviv, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, provides a platform to professionals offering services for $5 in more than 100 areas of the gig economy including graphic design, marketing and advertising, writing, translating, and software development.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 15, 2019

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1% in January, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported this afternoon, less than the analysts’ predictions of -0.3% to -0.4%. The CPI has risen 1.2% in the past 12 months, towards the lower end of the Bank of Israel’s annual target range for inflation of between 1% and 3%. This was the third successive month that the CPI has been in negative territory, largely due to the fall in oil prices on world markets.

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January is also traditionally a month of negative inflation for seasonal reasons and notable price falls included clothing and footwear, which fell 7%. However the price of fresh fruit and vegetables rose 3.5% and housing maintenance rose 1%.

The Central Bureau of Statistics also published the Housing Price Index today for- November-Dedember 2018. The Index showed the price of the average deal rising 0.2% in November-December compared with October-November. Housing prices fell 1.4% in 2018 and have fallen 2.3% since their peak in August-September 2017.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 15, 2019

The price of electricity on Israel could fall by between 1% and 1.5% as a result of the expected freezing of the price of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir. In an amendment to the gas supply agreement of 2012, the price of gas that Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) buys from Tamar will be frozen for a little over two years (until July 2021). It is assumed that the amendment will be signed in March, after the regulators, the Israel Public Utility Authority for Electricity and the Government Companies Authority, approve it.

A draft of the agreement was approved on Thursday by the IEC board and the Tamar partnerships. IEC has approached the Israel Public Utility Authority for Electricity and the Government Companies Authority for approval. The assessment at IEC is that there should be no difficulty in obtaining approval since the agreement is beneficial to IEC.

Negotiations with IEC have been taking place for over a year with the aim of finding an arrangement that will be convenient for both sides, regardless of the first date for updating the gas price set for July 2021, within which it will be possible to reduce the original price in the 2012 agreement by up to 25%. The negotiations moved into higher gear in the past month, and took place directly between CEO Ofer Bloch and legal counsel Yael Nevo for IEC and Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu, representing the partners in Tamar.

As a result of the amended agreement due to be signed by IEC and the Tamar partners, the price of gas to IEC will remain at $6.1 per MMBtu, while the electricity tariff is based on a price of $6.3 per MMBtu. The cost saving for IEC from the freezing of the gas price will be NIS 350 million in 2019-2020.

In return, IEC will agree to lower the capacity guaranteed to it in the Tamar pipeline from 6.75 BCM in the current agreement to 5 BCM. This will enable the Tamar partners to harden its contracts with other customers who up to now have bought gas from Tamar on an occasional basis, such as Dorad, Oil Refineries, and the OPC power plant, until gas starts to flow from the Karish and Tanin reservoirs. The Tamar partners will also be able to free up 1.75 BCM for the gas supply agreement with Egyptian company Dolphinus.

The agreement has interesting legal significance in the class action against the Tamar partnerships in the Tel Aviv District Court. The agreement has two implications: firstly, it represents a kind of ratification of IEC’s consent to the original agreement in 2012, which the petitioners in the lawsuit claim was given under monopolistic pressure by Tamar; and secondly, it demonstrates that the gas price in the agreement reflects a price for infrastructure and not just for the fuel. The net price of the gas, that is, the price minus the element that IEC paid for guaranteed pipeline capacity, is comparable to the prices obtained from Tamar by the private power producers in the agreements they signed after the agreement with IEC.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 17, 2019

India’s Lohia Group has entered the aerospace and defense sector by acquiring Israeli composite company Light & Strong Ltd. No financial details were disclosed.

Based in the Kannot Industrial Park near Gedera, south of Tel Aviv, Light & Strong specializes in aerospace and military carbon fiber and glass fiber composite components production. Lohia Group said that the Israeli firm’s military technology manufacturing capabilities will provide a synergistic fit for its expertise in large scale manufacturing across sectors.

Lohia Group added that it would leverage Light & Strong’s client base, which includes Israel’s Ministry of Defense. The Israeli facility is a well-established aero-structure manufacturer for platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and passenger and cargo aircraft. These customers will now be supported by Lohia Group with its facilities in Israel and India.

As part of the Indian government’s ‘Skill India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives Lohia Group says it will use this acquisition to establish India as an exporter of customized composite products to global OEMs.

Lohia Group director Anurag Lohia said, “Our acquisition of Light & Strong allows us to integrate our manufacturing expertise with cutting edge technology to help make India the exporter of choice for global OEMs. With our belief in ‘Make in India’, we are committed to supporting our indigenous aerospace and defense sector for its requirements of all things composite.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 13, 2019

Warburg Pincus will close the acquisition of the credit card company from Bank Leumi and Azrieli Group on February 26.

The acquisition of credit card company Leumi Card by<a href=https://www.warburgpincus.com/ target=new>Warburg Pincus</a> will close on February 26, the sides agreed today, according to a report by Leumi to investors.

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<p>The Leumi Card deal was signed seven months ago. Warburg Pincus agreed to buy the credit card company, which Bank Leumi was obliged to divest from under the Strum reforms in Israel’s financial services market, outright for NIS 2.5 billion, of which Bank Leumi will receive 80% and <a target=new href=http://www.azrieligroup.com>Azrieli Group Ltd.</a> (TASE: <a href=Javascript:viewInstrument(‘1119478′,45,’EN’)>AZRG</a>) 20%, in line with their holdings in the company.

India’s Lohia Group has entered the aerospace and defense sector by acquiring Israeli composite company Light & Strong Ltd. No financial details were disclosed.

Based in the Kannot Industrial Park near Gedera, south of Tel Aviv, Light & Strong specializes in aerospace and military carbon fiber and glass fiber composite components production. Lohia Group said that the Israeli firm’s military technology manufacturing capabilities will provide a synergistic fit for its expertise in large scale manufacturing across sectors.

Lohia Group added that it would leverage Light & Strong’s client base, which includes Israel’s Ministry of Defense. The Israeli facility is a well-established aero-structure manufacturer for platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and passenger and cargo aircraft. These customers will now be supported by Lohia Group with its facilities in Israel and India.

As part of the Indian government’s ‘Skill India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives Lohia Group says it will use this acquisition to establish India as an exporter of customized composite products to global OEMs.

Lohia Group director Anurag Lohia said, “Our acquisition of Light & Strong allows us to integrate our manufacturing expertise with cutting edge technology to help make India the exporter of choice for global OEMs. With our belief in ‘Make in India’, we are committed to supporting our indigenous aerospace and defense sector for its requirements of all things composite.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 13, 2019

Healthy.io, which has developed a self-administered home urine test for diagnosing kidney disease that is analyzed using a smartphone, has raised $18 million in series B funding. The funding round was led by Aleph, with participation by Samsung NEXT and private investors.

Healthy.io, was chosen as one of the most promising startups of 2018 in Israel by “Globes”. It says that “the funding will help scale the company’s home testing service based on its FDA-cleared smartphone urinalysis test-kit, aimed at sparing millions from the enormous burden of kidney disease complications while cutting costs for the overstrained medical system.”

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Healthy.io’s product is approved for sale in Europe and the US, and is one of the first products of its kind to receive these approvals. In the past few years the company has mainly operated in the UK with the National Health Service, and sold two types of test: one for detecting urinary tract infections, marketed via the NHS and pharmacies, and a test for detecting protein in the urine indicating deterioration of the kidneys in diabetes patients.

The company says that its testing service has been assessed with Geisinger Health in conjunction with the US National Kidney Foundation, achieving a 71% adherence rate amongst patients with hypertension who have never been tested before.

“We are reinventing existing paradigms of prevention,” said Healthy.io founder and CEO Yonatan Adiri. “Instead of spending money and other resources to get people to come to the lab, we offer providers a full home-based service. With our ‘pay per protein’ model, we only get paid based on tangible cost improvements we deliver by detecting elevated protein in urine – which identifies previously undetected Chronic Kidney Disease.”

Healthy.io was founded in 2014 and has about 50 employees. Its first funding round, in 2017, was led by Idan Ofer’s Quantum Pacific Ventures.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 5, 2019

Aeronautics can now continue exporting to the same customer that caused the previous suspension of its export license.

The Ministry of Defense has removed the conditions restricting the marketing and export of Orbiter K1 UAVS by Aeronautics Ltd. (TASE:ARCS) to an important overseas customer. The conditions were imposed following a deal with the customer concerning which a criminal investigation against the company was opened. Aeronautics yesterday reported to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) that the Ministry of Defense had notified the company that the restriction was being removed immediately. Aeronautics says that it can now continue supplying UAVs to the customer. The contract is believed to amount to tens of millions of dollars.

Aeronautics also reported that the Ministry of Defense had temporarily suspended the listing of Aeronautics’s CEO, VP business division, and another employee on the defense export registry, pending a hearing, until it is decided whether to file an indictment against any of these employees. After a decision is made about an indictment, the temporary suspension will be reconsidered.

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Aeronautics’s share price responded to the news with a 2% rise over two days. The company held its IPO on the TASE in June 2017 at a company value of NIS 1 billion, but its share lost over 60% of its value by late December, following the investigation and poor financial results. The company’s share price then doubled in the next six weeks after Aharon Frenkel acquired 20% of the company and Aeronautics reported last month that it had accepted an offer by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and businessperson Avichai Stoller to begin negotiations for the acquisition of Aeronautics for NIS 850 million. Aeronautics’s current market cap is NIS 680 million.

Defense industry sources described the Ministry of Defense’s decision as a “dramatic” one that enables the company to renew its contacts with the important overseas customer and promote the weapons deal under which Aeronautics will supply the customer with self-destructing UAVs.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 5, 2019

Former Ministry of Finance Accountant General Nir Gilad is returning as chairperson to Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL), where he served as deputy CEO under Izzy Cohen and Aharon Fogel. Gilad spent many years as CEO of Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) and chairperson of Israel Chemicals (TASE: ICL: NYSE: ICL). He will replace outgoing Migdal chairperson Prof. Oded Sarig. Migdal controlling shareholder Shlomo Eliahu is responsible for Gilad’s appointment.

Sarig, a former supervisor of insurance, resigned last December because of “corporate governance problems in the group,” as he explained in a sharp letter to Migdal’s board of directors. In his letter, Sarig said that he “could not continue to bear responsibility for money deposited with Migdal by 2.5 million policyholders and savers when I am unable to take the necessary actions on their behalf and for the benefit of the company.”

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Sarig’s resignation followed Eliahu’s appointment of a Migdal board of directors committee, consisting of Eliahu himself and external directors Ronit Bodo and Avraham Bigger (disclosure: Bigger is a consultant to the board of directors at “Globes”), to oversee Migdal’s management, thereby bypassing Sarig and CEO Doron Sapir. Eliahu’s plan was eventually thwarted by Capital Markets Authority director Moshe Bareket.

In addition to Sarig and Eliahu, Migdal’s board of directors includes Azriel Moskovich, Dr. Gavriel Picker (an associate of Eliahu for many years and the son of former supervisor of the Capital Market and Insurance Yaakov Picker, who granted Eliahu the original permit to found Eliahu Insurance), and external directors Meirav Ben Cnann Heller, Bigger, and Bodo. Arie Mintkevich also joined the main boards of directors at Migdal in recent days. With the exception of Sarig, all of the directors at Migdal Insurance are also directors at Migdal Holdings.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 5, 2019